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Fortress Paper buys optical security assets from Bank of Canada

Fortress Paper Ltd., through a wholly-owned subsidiary, is buying the assets of a Bank of Canada’s division which produces the optically variable security material for the security threads contained in Canadian banknotes. The company plans to…

Fortress Paper Ltd., through a wholly-owned subsidiary, is buying the assets of a Bank of Canada’s division which produces the optically variable security material for the security threads contained in Canadian banknotes. The company plans to build a new multi-million dollar high security production and research and development facility for the new business adjacent to its Thurso Mill in Quebec.

Chad Wasilenkoff, CEO of Fortress Paper, commented, “We are very pleased to announce this new acquisition which will supplement our existing paper-based high security feature offerings and which we intend to market as a security feature to other banknote producers around the world. The OSM features will complement and enhance our Landqart Mill which is a leading producer of banknote paper and other paper-based high security solutions.” Fortress Paper will be paying a purchase price of $750,000 for the OSM assets and will be granting the Bank of Canada a royalty-free license to use the intellectual property sold to the corporation for Canadian banknote applications. The OSM assets being acquired by Fortress Paper include certain patent applications and intellectual property rights to optical security features, unique security applications, and substantially all of the production equipment and machinery currently used at the OSM division. Fortress has also engaged certain key members of the OSM team. The purchase is expected to close in early January 2011.

Fortress Paper is an international producer of security and other specialty papers and products.